Meet Jared Smith of Jared’s Real Food in Lakeside, East County San Diego

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Smith.

Jared, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey into farming began rather unexpectedly. Growing up, I had no experience with farming aside from the fact that both my grandpas were farmers. Naturally, I heard stories of farming from them as a kid, but never any hands-on experience or interest in it for that matter. Back in 2010, I was a recent college graduate working a new job in the finance industry while also working part-time at Grossmont Hospital. I had good jobs for being freshly out of college but, at the end of the day, it didn’t make the heart sing. During this time, I received the bad news that my grandpa was diagnosed with cancer. Being very close to my grandpa, I was immediately in shock with the news and desperately wanted to help him. I began researching cancer and ways to heal from it. I was particularly interested in finding the root cause of cancer and this brought me to a more holistic approach on the matter. Through my personal research to help my grandpa, I became very interested in nutrition and human health, in general. I decided to go back to school to study nutrition and become certified as a health coach.

During that time, I studied many different diet theories and approaches to healthy living. I wanted my family to have better access to healthy food so I decided to build a small garden to grow vegetables and herbs. Little did I know, that I would soon fall in love with growing food but it happened almost immediately once I saw the miracle of a small seed grow into something that literally nourishes our bodies. I started getting ideas in my head that it would be great to be able to grow a lot more quality food for people. It was apparent to me at the time that there is a real need for local, pesticide-free produce. One thing led to the next and my uncle offered me a small strip of land on my grandpas old chicken ranch to start building a new garden.

My business, Jared’s Real Food, was officially launched in 2011 with the support of my family and friends. It began as a weekend project and I worked at building it every spare moment I had. Once there were 10 beds built, I planted them out and told everyone I was in business! Word spread and I had a good initial response to starting the farm. A total of 25 raised beds were built in the first initial strip of land but it became apparent that more space was needed. The farm was then expanded to a 2-acre adjacent lot, and that site was developed over the course of the next few years. I was still working part-time to make ends meet so it was quite a juggling act finding the time for it all. There was a lot to learn at the beginning, as there still is, and I really dove deep into studying holistic approaches to soil management and crop production.

From the very beginning, I pledged to my customers to never use toxic inputs at my farm, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizer. The goal in starting the farm was first and foremost to provide my local community with access to clean, real, produce harvested fresh. To be able to do that I have always made soil health my number one focus. The health of the soil is the foundation of everything and so I promote farming practices that build healthy soils, not destroy it. The farm is now in its 8th year and we are currently developing a brand new site at Oma’s Pumpkin Patch. The new farm at Oma’s is being built as an education site where our local community, school, and organizations can go to learn about holistic agriculture and no-till growing practices.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have definitely been many struggles along the way. Early on, it was tough figuring out how much to plant, timing the plantings properly, and trying to build a customer base. Farming has constant issues arise with managing and properly caring for the plants. You can be a really good grower and produce amazing crops, but to ultimately be successful you have to be good at selling them too. There are many different things to master when trying to operate a successful farm.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Jared’s Real Food – what should we know?
I own and manage Jared’s Real Food which is a holistic, no-till farming operation. Currently, we farm over 2.5 acres of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers. We grow over 80 varieties of heirloom and open-pollinated plants on the farm throughout the year. My farm specializes in high quality produce grown without pesticides or toxic inputs. The farm is designed to be a more balanced site where the main annual production beds are interplanted with hedgerows of fruit trees, herbs, and flowers. These hedgerow areas provide habitat and food for beneficial insects like ladybugs and hoverflies. The beneficial insects eat the pest insects that eat my crops and make my job easier. My farm is different than big industrial farms because we try to work with nature rather than fight it. I run a CSA mostly year round where you can pick up fresh produce directly from the farm or receive home deliveries. I also run a farm stand at the new farmer’s market at The Barn Florist and Mercantile Store every Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm. My produce can also be found every Friday at the La Mesa farmer’s market at Nature’s Always Right’s farm stand.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
There are so many people that deserve credit I can’t even list them all. That is the beauty of a farm! It really takes a dedicated team and people who believe in working hard for something they believe in. It brings people together and is foundational for the community surrounding it. My farm is a family farm, so my parents are there a lot helping with various tasks of watering, planting, harvesting, washing and preparing orders, and the list goes on. My grandma is there every week helping to wash and process the orders as is my aunt. Other family members help out from time to time. I am very blessed to have the support of my family. I’m very thankful to my uncle and aunt as well who believed in me and allowed me to start a farm on their property. Of course, I owe a lot of thanks to all of my farm crew and volunteers. Without all these people, the farm wouldn’t be able to function. When I first started growing, I learned a great deal from Mark Bendixen who is a local legend in the farmers market scene. As a farmer of over 30 years, he put up with my beginner questions every week at the market and always gave me good advice. I still have some of the original farming tools that he helped me acquire early on. I could go on and on and make a long list of people who have helped out and contributed to the farm. I am very thankful to everyone who has and they know who they are!

Pricing:

• CSA bag is $27 for farm pickup or $30 delivered
• Baby Green Salad Mix – $5 per bag
• Carrots – $3 per bundle
• Bulb Onion – $4 per bundle
• Beets – $3 per bundle
• Head Lettuce – $4 per 1lb bag
• Zucchini for $1.50 per pound
• Cucumbers $1-$2 each
• Basil $4 per bundle
• Tomatoes $3 per pound

Contact Info:

• Address: 11106 Moreno Ave.
  Lakeside, CA 92040
• Website: www.jaredsrealfood.com
• Phone: 619-403-4639
• Email: jaredsrealfood@hotmail.com
• Instagram: @jaredsrealfood

Image Credit:
Lynne O’Neil for horizontal Personal Photo

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